Nobel laureate Robert Shiller talks with WSJ.Money contributor David Wessel about the wisdom of investing in real estate and his provocative proposal to arrest the growth of inequality in the U.S.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... see ... when you look at housing using to ... the world is change ... and that people no longer ... regard Housing as a sure thing investment because they want ... we just went through and said maybe look into Morris ... safe place to live ... to think there's been a change in the subcontinent ... up ... to her and I'm not sure this is a very interesting question ... now the idea that you refer to the idea that housing is a ... great investment right ... I think if you go back ... in history ... twenty nine fifty seven the five hundred years ... that is not the conventional wisdom ... the stock from industries in ... eighteen seventy five to nineteen fifty and say ... what you say I read about Russia houses in the nest ... I think the usual response ... I would give you is ... you sure about that I mean ... the sun maintenance and Brenda and her to wear out ... your style ... if you can do business of reading about maybe that ... just ... betting on their price going up and I don't know ... I think that that was an idea that the call ... strangely particularly during this in the early years of the twenty first century ... so I knew person look as annual value investor in housing or un housing ... owner ... to live ... many houses you on ... due to fly to New Haven and won it in a ... sunny Creek or yes that's right it's the island ... the above that ... are ... not as an investment of the system ... we just might be fun ... should you do you think that you advise people that ... she won and best thing about the stock market you wanna ... buy a house buying houses in one eleven interceptions ... well anything like that is too simple of a ... I think that ... yes ... I'm not ... enthusiastic about Men's and people buying houses ... as ... random House's as investment ... I think it's a business ... and you can buy thousands of ... them out and make money then ... that's something that takes effort and time is is is still saying and ... they get is a competitive world yet to do and put in that time and ... and ... stay on top of things ... you mention inequality and we seen an extraordinary period have ever widening gaps between winners and losers in our society ... aam ... what do you have a view about what we should do about than anything ... IRA proposal ... I don't know if ... I have a solution that is that of a proposal that's what I was looking for the eyes of a Sunday than we ever imagined a hero ... fighting ... is about human psychology and finance ... the idea that I have is we should start ... preparing for a date maybe ten or twenty years in the future ... when inequality ... may be much worse ... we don't know yet whether it's much brighter than words ... we should have a contingency plan now ... under the symbol idea I have ... is raising the taxes on the rich ... which sells ... Bosco Hormel's hands with glee ... in expedient thing right now ... but with the nice thing is that when you can ... talk to people about ... the risks of the distant future ... there are more idealistic unless ... more are sharing the attitude ... that ... this psychologist the arc of ... trope ... it ... has no ... has developed a on ... a series of the temporal can still see that ... people really are more idealistic about the future ... you are planning this does have a ... contingency plan so we have a tax increase on rich people ... would go into effect ... if some measure of inequality at this point if ... this turns a ten billion is ... we don't let that happen you have to make ... SH of the rally ... first up is you I'm great ... ten billion dollars and keep it and spend on yourself ... we're all the new look will take ... a good fraction of that ... you still get the hang ... on and so are ... the lowest identity and I think we should expand the ... the charitable deduction ... so if you make ten billion dollars ... I knew I give ... ninety percent of it away ... you can ... get it with your name on it so it enhances your prestige that given away ... you should there with the doctor ... Daniel is is ... that there's nothing better to do with ten billion dollars except given away ... to a world what can anyone do with ... this huge sum of money so I was out so the way you and handwork it is that we we ... aggressively more aggressively reduced UniChem from top to the selfish people at the top and on your ... site you can turn itself into a ... Bill Gates or Andrew Carnegie ... what's wrong with that and I think ... I think it's okay ... so foundations OKE outs and ten ... cents ... fine wines not ... well to a billion dollars ... so if you think that is right here in the dead ... you can ... give the money to your school ... and have them the rebuilding after you ... and ... that's great if someone wants to do that ... using the still giving it away by the sudden surges taxing people taking it from them and say ... we're just taking them I mean you go to jail if you don't turn over ... we can find better ways ... to stay ... out ... of their own things you think we should be using the in flight insights of behavioral finance and ... economics to get people to do ... AB exercise more eat less fatty foods save more for retirement you think ... we're going to be in a period time world we try more of those ... this is the time this isn't this ... is all we really are ... notably a stayer and Sunstein with her book not right ... so for example it appears that this point in history that Americans are ... not saving enough for either law that ... their retirements or the oblong or because of improved lifespan ... and so we can ... think of programs that will ... encourage them to save ... what's right ... there are problems with our existing for example ... there isn't a revolution in pension funds ... it started around nineteen eighty with a defined benefit pension plan was largely replaced by the defined contribution four for one k plan ... the problem is ... they didn't require people to sign up for it ... this new Iowa because ... often these subsidized ... rent it ... ASA chief has never got around to it ... there is a symbol of change they could be made which is automatic enrollment ... still the course a chorus of because you can ... always write a letter and say no I don't want to grow ... so take me off ... pray that he did the difference between automatic enrollment ... and and ... and ... waiting for the prison's is initiated moment ... is is huge for a lot of people